Could Alabama GOP withdraw Roy Moore as Senate candidate?

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill was asked today about possible scenarios for the U.S. Senate race that could change Roy Moore's status as the Republican candidate.

It's already too late to remove Moore's name from the ballot in the Dec. 12 special election against Democratic nominee Doug Jones. The deadline for that was Oct. 11.

Could the party remove Moore as its candidate even though his name will be on the ballot?

Merrill, who is the state's top elections official, said the party could take that step formally with a letter to his office, even though it would not take Moore's name off the ballot.

There's no indication the party plans to remove Moore as its candidate. Efforts to reach GOP State Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan have been unsuccessful since the Washington Post reported Thursday that Moore dated and had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. Moore has strongly denied the allegation.

Could the party replace Moore with another candidate?

No, the deadline to do that was Oct. 11, Merrill said.

Moore could also withdraw as a nominee with a formal letter to the Secretary of State's office, Merrill said.

Moore has vowed to stay in the race, and some of his supporters say the accusations in the Post story will only serve to fire up Moore's voting base.

What happens if Moore is withdrawn as the nominee but still receives the most votes?

Merrill said the election would be null and void. The second-place finisher would not win.

It would then fall to the governor to call another special election.

Merrill said if a significant write-in campaign is announced, his office will release information about how to cast a write-in vote.

But there might be some question about that scenario. John Bennett, spokesman for Merrill, said one interpretation of the law is that if Moore is no longer a valid candidate but receives the most votes, Jones would be declared the winner.

Bennett said the official position of the secretary of state's office is that the election would be null and void, as Merrill said.

The law is found at Code of Alabama 17-6-21.

Updated at 2:30 p.m. to add last two paragraphs about the interpretation of the law.